Spanish Era: Politics

Civic Society, Historic Eras of Guam, Politics and Government, Spanish Era, Spanish Era: Politics

Forzado System and the Mariana Islands

The Spanish Forzado System. Before the Mariana Islands served as an official penal colony for political prisoners and criminals from Spain and her territories in the 19th century, the forzado system, or forced labor, brought many individuals to the islands in the form of conscripted laborers and soldiers. The forzado system imposed sentences of forced labor not only on those convicted of crimes, but others deemed “undesirable” by governing officials and provincial elite.

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Civic Society, Historic Eras of Guam, Politics and Government, Spanish Era: Politics, US Naval Era, US Naval Era: Politics

Spanish-American War

Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico became territories of the United States as part of the terms of the Treaty of Paris that officially ended the Spanish-American War of 1898. Since the war’s inception, scholars have written much about the motives behind United States’ policy makers’ decision to go to war with Spain, a war that thrust America into a new role as an imperial power.

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Civic Society, Governors, Governors of Guam, Historic Eras of Guam, People, People and Places, Politics and Government, Spanish Era, Spanish Era: Politics

Governor Manuel Muro

Editor’s note: The following is from an article entitled “The Legacy of Guam’s Governor Manuel Muro” in Glimpses of Micronesia 25, no. 2 (1985): 12-15. Republished with permission from Sanchez

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Civic Society, Governors, Governors of Guam, Historic Eras of Guam, People, People and Places, Politics and Government, Spanish Era, Spanish Era: Politics

Governor Juan Marina

The last Spanish-appointed Governor of the Mariana Islands, Juan Marina Vega (1846 – 1909), more commonly known as Juan Marina, served his term on Guam from April 1897 to June 1898. Guam was ceded to the US in 1898 at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War.

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Civic Society, Historic Eras of Guam, Indigenous Lenses, Interpretive Essays, Modern Guam Rises, Politics and Government, Post WWII Era, Spanish Era, Spanish Era: Politics, US Naval Era

History of Democracy in Guam

A common political fallacy is that democracy was a babe born in Guam during the mid-20th century under American rule. The fact is that democracy had its beginning in Guam almost two centuries ago when benevolent Spanish authorities allowed the local electorates to choose their gobernadorcillos (mayors).

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